I then remembered submitting my blog to Amazon about a year ago and having to wait for approval. If they emailed back, I missed it, and completely forgot about it. I don’t remember the details, but I get some percentage of that dollar, probably not enough to retire on. 🙂 It wasn’t about the money, I viewed it as another nice new way to subscribe to the blog.

This summer we sat next to a nice lady on one of our flights who showed us her Kindle, those things are really cool – and very easy on the eyes, nothing like a computer screen Now admittedly, my blog relies far more on colorful photos then words, and I don’t know how those will translate to the black and white screen. But, they do offer a free 14 day trial so there is nothing to lose. If you do get a Kindle for Christmas, check it out, and let me know how it works!

I haven’t mention it here before, but along with a handful of Alaska photo tours, I am now also offering private one-on-one workshops and tours. With a private tour the instruction will be tailored specifically towards your needs and interests. It can be anything from working on composition and exposures in the field, to using Photoshop in the office, or maybe a combination of topics. I will travel anywhere for these workshops, they can be here in Seward, your town, or at a favorite destination. Click on the link above for details.

I didn’t even think of promoting this option on my recent post of Christmas ideas for Photographers, but fortunately others are way ahead of me on that idea. In just the last couple of days we have sold 5 days of private tours for next summer as Christmas gifts. So if you still haven’t come up with that last minute gift…

Typically on the blog I’m posting photos captured the day before, but I must admit, with all the Fall color photos I have been posting lately, I have fallen a bit behind. Most of the autumn photos were captured over just two days, but it has taken a few more to share them. We have actually been in Moab, Utah since this past weekend, and beginning tomorrow, I will begin posting photos from this area.

A week ago, I alluded to the mountain biking at Hartman Rocks Recreation Area, but never had a chance to follow up. We have been fortunate enough to ride some great trails, like the Slickrock trail here in Moab, or our favorite, the McDowell Mountain Regional Park trails near Phoenix, but we now have a new favorite – these trails, well, rock! They were so much fun! Especially Rocky Ridge and Becks – they were really smooth single track trails, with lots of rises, dips and banked turns that allow you to go as fast as you can peddle. I felt like I was 12 again – well, that isn’t all that unusual. If you find yourself in the Gunnison area, check them out.

Here is a little tip that I often forget; digital cameras capture some amazingly rich colors in dark light. This photo for example was taken at least 15 minutes before sunrise – it was a 20 second exposure at f/11. The images I captured of this scene with the first warm light of day hitting the hillside are nice and colorful, but look very different, and not nearly as rich as this image captured in very dark conditions. By the way, I didn’t add any saturation with Photoshop.

The Fall images I have been posting this week were all captured by driving down relatively quite little dirt roads, some after a bit of walking around. This is where I prefer spending time and photographing. This photo on the other hand was actually captured from a large, popular pullout along a busy highway. I said all along I wasn’t going to stop here, but it is just to nice to pass up, so yesterday morning I joined the crowds at this spot.

The other photographers gathered around here waited another 15 minutes before firing up their cameras, and probably thought I was a bit off shooting away in the dark like I was. Well, I am a bit off, but this time it might have paid off.

Well we received a lot of rain last night, which meant snow for the mountains. What a treat – they sure look better with fresh snow!

Unfortunately, we also were hit by some very hard winds today. Not only were the leaves being blown off the trees, we saw entire trees knocked down onto the highway. We even saw a stop sign blown over. Needless to say, thanks to the high winds, the window of opportunity for fall colors may have been even smaller then I anticipated.

Now we are talking! I think we have found the amazing colors Colorado is known for.

Yesterday we moved to Ouray, Colorado – what a beautiful town! I’m sure I will be posting photos of it eventually. But, the trees around here are far healthier, looking great, and at or near peak. The next few days should be a whirlwind – stormy weather is in the forecast, we need to cover as much ground as possible as this might be a wonderful, but small window of opportunity.